My friend, Susan from Savoring Time in the Kitchen is hosting a Garden Party at her blog this weekend so please
CLICK HERE to see her party as well as all the other's joining in. Susan was the first person to show me Rooguchi clematis and I fell in love...I just planted this one this spring and isn't it a beauty?
The gardens are especially beautiful right now with the daylilies blooming...
and butterflies flitting about.
The wildflower border is blooming and all the annuals are bright spots of color.
At this time of year, unless it is extremely hot or raining, I eat all my meals outdoors.
After all the physical work in the gardens I was really hungry so I made a huge old fashioned meat & potatoes meal for supper. I set the table with my Kitchen Garden dishes and we started with a salad.
Sides were grilled fresh beets and new little red potatoes which I guess aren't techinically roots but tubers but there isn't a bowl for that ;)
Nothing dainty about the size of our steaks...so obviously no dessert...
unless you count the candy corn vine...
or the pineapple lilies.
By this morning, I was second guessing posting this meal for my garden party since obviously there are no recipes involved. So today I decided to try a summer recipe I have wanted to make for awhile. I set a more intimate table in the satellite gazebo...
where we dined by candlelight.
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner or as we say in MN, Supper - they all taste so much better when eaten in good company.
I brought the "Minnesota Nice" to the blogger garden party...
and made my first Pavlova! With a dessert like this we wanted a simple supper so Jeff fired up the grill and
we had a hot dog and mini peppers. Had to save room for dessert after all ;)
Dessert was not picture perfect but sure tasted great! We savored every forkful as...
we watched some more goldies...
and bluejays attend the party.
Pavlova with Berries and Whipped Cream - recipe from our local newspaper columnist, Sue Doeden
4 egg whites, room temperature
1 cup superfine sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch, sifted
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 pints fresh berries of your choice
Extra powdered sugar for garnish
Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Place a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet with no sides. Draw a 9- or 10-inch circle on the parchment, using a plate as your guide. Turn the paper over so the drawing is on the bottom. It will show through the parchment.
Place the egg whites in a large mixing bowl. If you are using a stand mixer, use the whisk attachment. Beat the egg whites at low speed until they are very foamy. With the mixer on high speed, gradually add superfine sugar, beating until the sugar is dissolved after each addition. Beat the mixture 5 to 10 minutes, until it is very shiny and thick. Fold in cornstarch and vinegar.
Spread meringue mixture into the marked circle on parchment paper. Use the back of a spoon to shape evenly, spreading meringue to the sides and leaving a slight depression in the middle, similar to a nest. Run the flat side of a knife up the edge of meringue mixture, all the way around, making furrows. This strengthens the Pavlova and gives it a nice decorative finish.
Bake the meringue in preheated 250-degree oven for 1 hour. Turn off the oven. Leave Pavlova to cool in the oven with door slightly ajar. It will take at least 2 hours for the Pavlova to cool completely.
Use a wide metal spatula to carefully loosen the baked meringue shell from the parchment paper. Slide the meringue onto a cake platter.
An hour before serving, beat heavy whipping cream with powdered sugar and vanilla until firm.
Spoon sweetened whipped cream into the meringue shell and spread evenly. Spoon berries carefully over the whipped cream, leaving a border of cream and meringue. Sprinkle the Pavlova with powdered sugar just before serving. Serves 6 to 8.
The full article and link to the recipe can be found
HERE.
I will definitely make this one again!
Marsha - Thumbs UP
Jeff - Thumbs UP
I have used this recipe many times and the raspberry/white chocolate version is our favorite. We also like them with blueberries and white chocolate too ;) The recipe is from Thibeault's Table, a beautiful blog whose author believes "recipes are to be shared". 
Today is my friend Cynthia's Birthday and I am so happy to be able to wish her a wonderful day here. When I think of Cynthia, I think of her kindness, caring (with a capital C), generous and graceful nature. We met on a food forum several years ago and though we no longer participate I can honestly say I met the BEST core group of nine friends there. When we all went to the blogging world, Cynthia chooses to have her's remain a private blog so that we can all enjoy seeing the wonderful photos and day trips she takes with her two precious grandchildren, Addi & Tate. She is a role model to me of how I want to be as a Grandma some day - Really, she is!! Cynthia has the best memory ever - she can remember and bring up things sometimes that just amazes me. I think it is the caring nature that shines the most through her, it doesn't matter that we are cyber friends or IRL friends, she truly cares about your life and families. Cynthia has shown me a whole new world of photography, and also introduced me to Peggy Karr glassware. I had not seen a lot of them here in MN but her collection is just amazing and it is such a joy when she shows her many pieces to us.
My friend, Susan from Savoring Time in the Kitchen is hosting a Garden Party at her blog this weekend so please CLICK HERE to see her party as well as all the other's joining in. Susan was the first person to show me Rooguchi clematis and I fell in love...I just planted this one this spring and isn't it a beauty?
The gardens are especially beautiful right now with the daylilies blooming...
and butterflies flitting about.
The wildflower border is blooming and all the annuals are bright spots of color.
At this time of year, unless it is extremely hot or raining, I eat all my meals outdoors. 
After all the physical work in the gardens I was really hungry so I made a huge old fashioned meat & potatoes meal for supper. I set the table with my Kitchen Garden dishes and we started with a salad.
Sides were grilled fresh beets and new little red potatoes which I guess aren't techinically roots but tubers but there isn't a bowl for that ;)
Nothing dainty about the size of our steaks...so obviously no dessert...
unless you count the candy corn vine...
or the pineapple lilies.
By this morning, I was second guessing posting this meal for my garden party since obviously there are no recipes involved. So today I decided to try a summer recipe I have wanted to make for awhile. I set a more intimate table in the satellite gazebo...
where we dined by candlelight.
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner or as we say in MN, Supper - they all taste so much better when eaten in good company.
I brought the "Minnesota Nice" to the blogger garden party...
and made my first Pavlova! With a dessert like this we wanted a simple supper so Jeff fired up the grill and 
we had a hot dog and mini peppers. Had to save room for dessert after all ;)
Dessert was not picture perfect but sure tasted great! We savored every forkful as...
we watched some more goldies...
and bluejays attend the party.
Join me this morning as I had my breakfast in the garden surrounded by birdsong. With blossoms popping out everywhere...the gazebo is the best place to enjoy a meal alone just taking in the beauty everywhere. The tamarisk tree in the background is blooming in full pink beauty. This tree is also called a tamarix by many nurseries but I prefer the "old" name as it was referred to way back in Genesis 21:32.
Of course, I had to get out one of my sets of bird plates to fully enjoy the breakfast with the birds experience ;)
Robins, bluejays and mourning doves came into feed while I quietly ate breakfast but the first to entice me to lift my camera was this hummingbird feeding on the honeysuckle vine.
I think I love looking at it's shadow photographed as much as the bird itself!
I know of at least three pairs of wrens nesting in the yard but the constant chatter is everywhere so there could be more. This one was the closest and went about feeding her young while I was eating.
Watching Mrs. Wren come out of the house over and over while feeding her babies reminded me that I am asked often on the garden blog how many bird houses I have. After fininishing off the muffins, I decided to count. Check out today's post on Marsha's Garden to find out the answer.
I bought the towel pictured above because it reminded me of Carol...it says "she was the life of the tupperware party". I have never met Carol in person but I KNOW she is the life of every party she attends...virtual or in real life (those in real life just get to sample her famous sangria)! Carol is Fun with a capital F and has the most amazing sense of humor! I never tire of her honesty either...while other food blogs show the perfect place setting with nare a fork out of place - Carol will show her burnt pot holders as she has left more than one on the hot stove since I have known her. Carol has a serious side too...she went through some hard times this spring but her love and strength shone through and I admired her so much more. She is kind and generous, giving and caring, and has that great playful nature that I am sure the kids she works with love the most. When I think of Carol I think of a little yellow bus with the wheels going 'round and 'round filled with pre-schoolers whose driver starts their day on a sunny note and ends it with joy! Happy Birthday Carol...I am blessed to call you a friend!
A quick post from me this morning to give you a cookie update from the White event. I combining it with Suzy's Flashback Friday & Gollum's Foodie Friday so please click on the links to go to these wonderful hostesses blogs to see others participating in this weeks events.
It was very hot & HUMID here this week so I don't know what I was thinking trying to do painted cookies for the rehearsal dinner. After the first painted ones wouldn't dry - I gave up on painting and used the food writers and I think they turned out okay.
The really positive thing was that the colors were pink and the food coloring pink was looking red on those I painted. Can you tell the wedding colors are indigo blue, silver & pink?
These food writers are just the easiest thing to use that a 3 year old could do it. Wouldn't that be a fun project doing these with the kiddies? I would love to see cookies with those first scrawled writing out of their names or those stick drawings of their families!
These were the painted efforts - the blue stripes are more acurate on the indigo blue color but as you can see the hot pink hearts on the top look red. The blue coloring would not dry in the humidity and I could just see the wedding party on Saturday with blue food colored stained fingers so this time the food writers were definitely the way to go.
Since this is also Flashback Friday - I am flashing back to some photos of the cookie bouquets I did in April for Tammy's bridal shower. I think I did 11 or 12 dozen then.
Back then, I got out my painting supplies, Wilton cake decorating colors, Wilton food writers and inspiration photos from my friend's blogs.
I started with my favorite design, the bird nests...
and added toparies, wreaths, , flowers, birds & trees...
Texas bluebonnets and wildflower baskets...
pineapples and tulips.
There were some N loves T's and 72 different butterflies
and finally they were individually bagged and 10 cookies were added along with tulip candy suckers into 10 different centerpieces.
I copied most of the photos from the original posting but if you would like to see the original post in my flashback, you can find it HERE. Thank you to Suzy & Michael for hosting these fun events! Remember to click on the links above to see the other's participating.
